ALEC EMPIRE killing it in LA about 10 hours ago. just got home and am all wired. im sure i will crash out in about an hour. so good. i fucked my wrist up. dont care. got the mic for two parts, can die happy now. never thought i would get this experience. ever.

I saw Phoenix with Neon Indian a couple weeks ago. I don't consider myself a Phoenix fan, but my mom got free tickets, so I went. I ended up LOVING Neon Indian, who opened for them, and who I had never heard of before then. They made the trip totally worth it. Phoenix played well, and while I only really dug a couple of songs, their lighting was fantastic.

About a week ago I saw the Pixies and Fuck Buttons. I mostly went for Fuck Buttons, during which the crowd was in "WTF" mode as most people ahd never heard of them and wasn't quite sure why there was a band tinkering with electronics and lacking in "real" instruments. They were amazing. Pixies played really well and i had a blast watching them, but DAMN did that crowd smell bad. It was seriously the worst smelling pit I've ever been in, and I've been in a lot.

A few nights ago I saw Murderdolls, Alice Cooper, and Rob Zombie. Best show I've been to in a while. It'd been a good while since I've been to a proper metal concert, and all three of these acts KILLED it. Murderdolls were a lot of fun, Alice died like four different times (he usually just does one death), and I got to touch Rob Zombie. It was amazing.

Am going to Nashville for 5 days starting Friday. Lot's of random unheard of rock-esque bands will be seen, also just purchased ticekts to see Blitzen Trapper while I am there. Folksy-Backwoods-Americana - hopefully it won't suck.

Monday night was Kylesa/Torche/High on Fire in a room that held about 300 people. It melted my face.

Kylesa opened, and while the crowd was a bit thin that early, they were supportive. The band, for their part, played like it was sold out. I'd never seen them before and they were spot-on live. Torche put a grin on every face with their bliss-metal shenanigans. By the end of their set, the drums were everywhere, the drummer had jumped into the crowd, and the bassist tossed his bass into the front rows, so we got to play with his ultra downtuned strings and make a terrible ruckus.

High on Fire. There aren't words. Matt Pike is not human; he is not made of 73% water like the rest of us, he is made of 10% bong resin and 90% pure metal. They put on one of the top 3 loudest shows I've ever seen, and every minute of it was top-notch. The rhythm section is relentless and Matt can shoot a snot-rocket midsong without missing a note. Now that's metal.

I got a headbutt to the nose, more bruises than I can count, and I left ecstatic, revived by the power of heavy music.

when that tour came to AZ it was up north in the small college town of Flagstaff...then HOF broke down so the show was cancelled. my friends drove up there, got the news (this was the day after we did our los angeles run so there was no way i was doing another road trip) and called Kylesa. on tours like that, if the show gets cancelled the openers make no money, so KYLESA and TORCHE played a solo show.

in a house. word is it was the loudest house show in the state in YEARS

Want to decide which concert to end the year with. I had a chance for a Faith No More ticket but apparently I was short a few bucks so my card didn't fuckin go through! FNM woulda made my year but I want my favorite bands to move forward and not be a reunited nostalgia act...really like the Palladium tho. They light that place so it feels like your outside in the night time.

@joe - Considering how loud they were in the venue, I'm surprised that house is still standing. Kylesa and Torche were both good enough that I would have paid to see either of them, and with HoF on top of it all it was just amazing.